Dalits In Reverse : S. ANAND

BRAHMINS : outlookindia.com: From being the dominant community at one time, the Tamil Brahmins are facing the effects of a new casteism

"The day of the annual chariot festival at the Kapaleeswarar temple, Mylapore. Thousands of spectators jostle for space. Amid shouts of 'Kapali', the Siva-mounted chariot inches along the temple tank. Hundreds of non-Brahmins sweat at the vadam (ropes) of the chariot. P. Madhavan, 40, asks for a chance to handle the vadam. After touching the rope, he retreats to his spectator position, leaving the task of pulling the chariot to others. He merely wanted some punyam (blessings) by the symbolic handling of the vadam.

Standing on the sidelines, and often reticent, the Tamil Brahmin community is not known to expend energy on protests.

The assertion of self-respect by the non-Brahmins since the launch of the Non-Brahmin Manifesto in 1916, the Periyar-led Self-Respect Movement that followed, the formation of the Justice Party government in 1920 and the coming to power of the DMK in 1967 led to the unhinging of Brahmin hegemony.

In 1928, the Brahmins, who constituted 3 per cent of the population, occupied 620 gazetted officer positions compared to non-Brahmin Hindus who had only 327 officers. Today, in the only state where reservation for various non-Brahmin communities goes up to 69 per cent, the non-Brahmins have come into their own. Recalls danseuse Anita Ratnam: "My brother did not get an engineering seat despite scoring 98 per cent and had to study in a Madurai college. When they looked for marriage proposals for me in the '70s, all eligible Brahmin boys had gone abroad!"

Till the 1940s, the math attracted little public attention. Reeling under the onslaught of the Periyarite movement, several educated Brahmins of Tamil Nadu headed for Bombay and Delhi. Those who entered the civil services and business invested faith and resources in the math.

Besides CM J. Jayalalitha, the only Brahmin MLA in the 234-member assembly is the BJP's H. Raja. In contrast, the Thevars have 93 MLAs. Squeezed out of politics, the Brahmins wrested control of the bureaucracy, emerging as significant players in Delhi and rallied around the Kanchi math. Under Jayendra Saraswati, who allied himself with the emerging Hindutva, the math attracted politicians and industrialists of various hues and acquired a national profile.

Jayendra's tribulations have rekindled personal memories of persecution. "When I sported the madisaru-style sari at 18, people heckled me. When my son was 16, DMK workers pulled his kudumi (tuft)."

The lack of protests also owes to the math's poor following, according to Gnaani, editor, Dheemtarikita: "The math never had a mass following like Bangaru Adigalar or other non-Brahmin maths. Even among Brahmins, only the political right sees this as persecution." Says Srivatsan: "In reality, the Kanchi math has hardly been representative of Tamil Brahmins. The temple-worshipping culture of the Tamils owes its legacy to the Bhakti movement of Alwars and Nayanmars. The advaitic Kanchi math derives nothing from this tradition."

According to litterateur Sundara Ramaswamy: "There are many Brahmins who feel we must not attack Jayendra Saraswati at this moment even if he could be guilty. He worked for the uplift of Brahmins. His contribution to Hinduism is minimal. Jayendra never liked genuine Hindu leaders like Vivekananda as he was not a Brahmin. In terms of social transformation, this episode had little impact on society."

Indira Parthasarathy, playwright and winner of the Saraswati Samman, says it is only the 50-plus generation that has been shaken. "Jayendra Saraswati is not a rallying point for the community." Parthasarathy argues that there was no anti-Brahminism in Tamil society to start with. "There was no Brahmin-non-Brahmin antagonism during the Sangam and Bhakti periods. " He blames it on British colonialism: "In north India, British divided the society into Hindus and Muslims. In the south, the only divide possible was into non-Brahmin and Brahmin."

Points out Cho Ramaswamy, Rajya Sabha MP: "The Brahmin is harassed. There was a time when Brahmins dominated every field. This had to change. When Periyar started his movement, violence was systematically encouraged. The DK and DMK scandalised the Brahmin community. The Brahmin met the challenge and has emerged successful. Because of lack of reservation, the Brahmins had to perform better, work harder." Dismissing the comparison with Jews, Cho says, "There was no such persecution though Periyar may have wanted it to happen.""